More than a game

I remember years ago my mother told me about how a friend of hers was asking how I was.

My mother, in her response, mentioned something about “my work”. The friend burst into laughter at the idea that what I do could be classified as work. Now I’m the first person to know how privileged and lucky I am to be doing what I do as a “job” but, just to prove that there actually is a bit of work involved, I would like to give you an insight into what it takes week to week to be an international footballer playing in the Championship.

Gone are the days when you could just turn up for training ten minutes beforehand, get a quick strapping, train for an hour and head home.